The act of marking any public or private surface with words, symbols and/or signs, without the owner(s) permission, is known as graffiti, or tagging. In previous years graffiti artists, or taggers, would primarily deface a specific location to signify a gang's territory or for revenge. During the last few years, however, taggers have been placing graffiti on virtually every surface possible. In fact, a status symbol among taggers is one's ability to mark a surface that is particularly dangerous to reach. In most major cities graffiti has unfortunately become a common sight for residents, businesses and visitors.
In order to attempt to control the onslaught of graffiti, city governments have implemented graffiti removal and watch programs. In recent years a city such as Los Angeles, Calif. spent over $10 million annually on these programs. In New York, the Transit Authority spent $6 billion in subway cleanup campaigns. These figures only represent one small part of the total cost resulting from graffiti. There are significant additional costs which stem from paying police and private security companies to apprehend taggers and, subsequent legal costs to prosecute and, if necessary, incarcerate the offenders.
Graffiti has also resulted in noticeable hardships for both the paint companies who manufacturer spray paint, and the average consumer, who must endure difficulties just to purchase the paint. Not only must all spray paint purchasers be 18-years-of-age or older (with valid I.D. ) but, also, the paint itself is kept in locked cabinets where only an employee of the paint store has access. What should be a simple, fairly quick retail paint purchase can become a time-consuming, offensive ordeal--especially if a person who happens to appear younger than 18 accidently forgets to bring his/her I.D. Some cities have even proposed a complete ban on the sale of all spray paint. It is unlikely this will occur but it does illustrate just how serious the graffiti problem has become.
If there was some way to provide spray paint that would be impossible or, at least significantly difficult for taggers to use, some of the graffiti problem could be eliminated.